Without rain, a bleak outlook
As drought takes a heavy toll in Rajasthan, there are measures the state government must take
quickly, says Deepak Malik.
October 2002 -
As the south-west monsoon swept across India with less than its usual
force, many states face a gloomy harvest and a year of food shortages and
drought. Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh,
Chattisgarh and Uttarachal in the north and Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and
Tamilnadu are facing major crises. Twelve meteorological districts in the
country have been hit by poor monsoon this year. Expected to start around
mid-June and continue until September, the monsoon has been intermittent,
with heavy rains around the north-east resulting in floods in two States
Bihar and Assam, while the north and north-west have been relatively dry
causing widespread crop damage and economic loss.
Rajasthan is one of the worst affected states. Drought has loomed in all
the 32 districts with a deficit rainfall of 53.4%. There are areas
where people have not experienced even one proper shower during the whole
monsoon period. This is the fifth continuous drought in the state.
Approximately 40 million people and 50 million cattle have been affected
this year alone. The water table is going down, wells and handpumps have
gone dry. Livestock have started dying of hunger and thirst. People have
started abandoning their cattle after praying to god for their lives.
Migration to cities and other states is up. Social structures in villages
have suffered. Weddings have been postponed indefinitely. There is a
dreary stillness in the air.
This year's drought raises many issues which need immediate attention.
Some of these are discussed below.
Drinking water
Dry ponds, wells and handpumps are making life miserable for the poor
sector of society. About 30% of the handpumps have gone dry. Women have to
walk long distances to fetch water. Western Rajasthan is vulnerable in
terms of all the scarcities. Water rates have gone up. Tanker tractors are
charging extremely high prices. One tanker tractor of 1000 liters costs
from Rs.200 to 500 depending on location and distance. According to
Additional Relief Secretary Mr. Karni Singh Rathore, about 26,000 villages
will face problems from the drinking water crisis.
PHED has a contingency plan of Rs. 518 crore. Overall 30,000 works of
renovating traditional water harvesting structures have been identified
under relief works. 3400 new handpumps and 1205 tubewells will also be
bored. 1500 tanker tractors are supplying water in 1100 villages. Of the
western state districts, the most severely affected is Pali. Each day, two
trains of water must be provided to Pali. No district is in a position to
provide water properly, as everywhere the rainfall is deficit. There is
simply no way that 1500 tanker tractors could quench the thirst of 40
million people and 50 million livestock.
Fodder and livestock
Most of the reports from District Collectors on the drought situation have
prioritized fodder as the main concern. With nearly no agriculture, there
is now a situation of fodder deficiency all over the state. Western
Rajasthan districts are more affected. Because the drought is regional,
neighbouring states like Punjab and Haryana, which used to supply fodder
in normal years, are themselves facing similar worries this year. The
scarcity in other states is not of great intensity as it is their first or
second year of drought and they still have some buffer stocks of fodder,
but not to supply other states. There is some fodder in Hanumangarh and
Ganganagar districts, which other districts are procuring. There is a
steep hike in fodder price - 40 kg now costs Rs –180 to 200- and this has
led many into debt. Much of the available fodder is contaminated with high
levels (upto 25%) of mud.
Due to the non-availability of water and fodder people have started
abandoning their unproductive cattle, putting a mark on their foreheads in
a last prayer under open skies. There are reports of animals dying of
hunger and thirst. Animal carcasses can be found in the countrysides.
Many people have started migrating to other states with their animals. In
some instances, neighbouring states are obstructing this migration. Nearly
50% of the livestock could be lost.
The government has plans to open 3000 fodder depots. Many of them have
been opened in western districts, but many have no fodder. The government
has asked NGOs to open fodder depots and cattle camps but the delay of
payments [and in some cases, non-payments] by the government has
demotivated NGOs to open these camps.
Some suggestions from NGOs and fields are:

Mobile fodder depots should be opened.

Mobile veterinary camps must be organised.

Planning must include animals as well, especially camels.

Provision of cattle feed must be ensured.

Loans from banks at cheaper rates for purchase of fodder must be made
available.

There must be a revised system for issuing fodder depots to NGOs for
timely payments and proper functioning

Seeds that flourish from the first irrigation must be promoted and
must be provided at subsidized rates

Employment
Looking around the daily wage labourers markets in the cities, one can
easily find people from villages looking for somebody to provide them with
work. Around the same time in past years, it has been difficult to find
labourers, but now they are in huge numbers quarreling with each other to
be hired. These people are migrants from other parts of Rajasthan. The
labour wages have gone down sharply (Rs.40 per person per day), whereas
according to Government regulations the minimum wage for a person per day
is Rs.60. Nearly 10 million families in Rajasthan are affected because of
drought this year. The worst affected are landless agricultural labourers,
for whom relief works are the only hope.
Relief works were started from 15th August, 2002. The initial ceiling for
the first quarter provided by the Rajasthan government was 500,000, but
the actual employment generated was about 250,000. The wages were to be
paid partially in terms of wheat and partially as cash (10 kgs. of wheat
costing Rs.46 and Rs.14 as money). The wage provided to labourers per
person ranged from Rs.15 to 55. Despite the regulation of the government
that the minimum wage is Rs.60, no person recorded by a network of NGOs
(Akal Sangharsh Samiti) has received this minimum wage. According to the
government's own records the average daily wage paid in first quarter is
Rs.50.31. The average was worst in Jodhpur and Jaisalmer, at Rs.32 per
person per day.
In response to demands from non-BPL (Below Poverty Line) families the
government has decided to include them in relief works. A new system has
already been adopted in which three master rolls will be prepared in a
month to cover more people. The employment ceiling will also be raised in
the coming months.
Some suggestions from NGOs and fieldworkers are:

The government is providing employment to only one person per family
in some severely affected families. This ceiling must be raised.

The government must respect the Minimum Wage Act and must pay the minimum
wage of Rs.60 per person per day.

Wherever machine-assisted work can be stopped and
labourers can be employed, the switch must be made.

As payments are delayed, labourers must be provided with some amount of
wheat in advance so that they can feed their families.

Normally a dry region with much hardship related to the absence of water,
Rajasthan is reeling from even worse conditions this year. Unless the
government machinery can facilitate a quicker response, the economic and
social damage will be severe. Already, the losses have been significant,
and with little hope of further rain, a bleak year lies ahead.
Deepak Malik
October 2002
Deepak Malik works with the non-governmental
organisation Health, Environment, and Development
Consortium (HEDCON), working towards social reconstruction in the
state of Rajasthan. To sensitize development agencies, VOs, NGOs,
activists and people on the current drought situation in
Rajasthan, HEDCON provides pertinent information for the media.